Raven grunted as she hefted her shield over her shoulder and
trudged up the hill to the inn. She was in need of a warm bed, a hot
bath and a good meal. At the moment if a bandit leapt in front of her
she would use her Power to kill him without a thought just so she could
make it to the inn.
As she walked her mother's pendant bounced against her chest. It
was the symbol of the elves that denoted she was not a normal human. In
fact, it had been three months since the beginning of her Ascension into
her Power, when she had given up her mortality and chosen the long life
of her mother's people. It had also been three months since Martin and
Belle's wedding, and...
She reached into her pouch and clutched the smooth opal-eye that
Tek had pressed into her hand in her dying moments. Raven's heart stung
as she thought of her little sister's long and elegant body bloody and
fading in her arms...
She shook her head to clear the thought and continued up the hill.
She looked up and read the sign, her eyes squinting in the waning light.
The Cock's Crow, she thought, Hmm. Well, doesn't matter; found a place
for the night.
She went in and grinned to herself as the sound of the people
engulfed her newly-formed senses. She could feel the mood of everyone in
the room and it made her giddy. Everyone was full of cheer, food and ale
and in good spirits.
After procuring a room for the night and depositing her things
upstairs, Raven found herself sitting beside the fire in a cozy armchair
cradling a mug of delicious tea and doing something she still did even
after living on the streets for so long: people watching.
There was a family sitting over on the right of her. It was a
husband, a wife and their twin boys. She chuckled as the two red-headed
twins tried to feed each other, their mother laughing and wiping the
stew from their faces. The father smiled proudly at his boys, every now
and then sharing a loving smile with his wife. For a moment she thought
of Belle and Martin and wondered when they would have children.
Raven grinned at the thought and looked around when her gaze fell
on three girls. Her throat tightened suddenly and she tried to fight
back tears.
It was obvious that the three were sisters. They sat next to each
other, the oldest girl watching over the younger two. The youngest and
the oldest laughed as a server tried his best to get the middle girl to
look at him and succeed in tripping, spilling two steak dinners on the
floor. The youngest cracked up, the middle one looked chagrined and the
oldest helped the young man up and sent him back to the kitchen. Before
she sat down she tousled her little sister's hair in affection.
Raven's mind began to spin, her Power becoming harder to control
as images flashed through her mind...
Galen, her father, lying facedown in a pool of his blood, her
blood-father trying to have her killed, facing down the shadow
creatures, Tek screaming and holding her in her arms, the blood staining
her clothes red red red red red blood blood blood blood blood DEATH
DEATH DEATH DEATH...
Objects began to fly around the room, people crying out as her
emotions spun out of control allowing her Power to go haywire. She broke
out in a sweat and began convulsing as she tried to fight back against
it. She tasted blood as she bit down hard on her bottom lip and gagged.
She collapsed on the floor and began to whimper as the magic within her
took control and her eyes blazed blue fire.
The last thing Raven saw was a beautiful face looking worriedly
at her and warm arms holding her to stop her from flailing about and
hurting herself... then her eyes rolled back into her head and the world
went black.
----------
In her stupor, Raven dreamed.
----------
"Raven... you ok?" Tek suddenly rasped. Raven dropped her
sword and ran over to her sister. She turned and howled at Martin,
"quick, go and get help!!! HURRY!!!"
The tone in her voice shook the mage from his horror and made him
take off down the black corridor to find Josephus and Tidus.
"Oh Tek... why'd you do that?" Raven whispered brokenly.
"Because you're an idiot... and somebody's got watch your back."
The youngest of the three sisters gasped, blood beginning to leak from
the corners of her mouth.
Belle ripped off a strip of her skirt and began to frantically try
and stop the bleeding. "Tek, don't worry we'll get help and everything
will be ok—"
"Belle..." Tek's voice became more muffled as her lungs filled
with blood and fluid, "don't... there's no point..."
Belle shook her head, her voice rising in panic, "don't do this to
us Tek; don't die! BY THE POWER, DON'T DIE ON ME!!!!
Tek reached up and gently cupped her sister's cheek, "Belle...
Martin loves you... don't lose him..." her gray eyes looked at Raven.
With what little strength Tek had left she slipped her hand into her
pocket and took out a smooth stone. She pressed it into Raven's hand and
whispered over Belle's frenzied breathing, "be a....hero... Raven...
wander and help... those in need... like your mother... you were born
to... help people... tell Josephus I'm sorry..."
Those were the last words she spoke. Her eyes closed and her
breathing became shallow. Raven let out a sob and pulled Tek into her
arms, rocking her back and forth as her sobs became louder, echoing off
the stone walls.
Belle's eyes widened as the realization set in and she leaned
forward; taking Tek's hand into her own. Silence, punctuated by Raven's
sobs and Tek's slowing breaths, descended as the two women began their
death watch.
It was the longest moment of Raven's life. She knew Martin
wouldn't return in time.
After perhaps half an hour Tek shuddered softly one last time and
then with a sigh went limp, her head rolling back.
Raven was now silent as she stared at her sister's body in her
embrace. She was still staring when Martin came into the room bringing
Josephus, Tidus and Ciege behind him.
Tidus approached and gently removed the still form from her arms.
He quietly laid Tek on the ground and his hand went to the pulse on her
neck. After a moment he looked up at the others and shook his head.
"She's gone."
Raven's shoulders slumped and she hung her head. Belle let out a
keening wail of sorrow and collapsed, crying and sobbing hysterically as
Martin gathered his wife into his arms and held her.
Josephus kneeled beside the figure and wept silently, his fist
beating his chest. Ciege came to Raven and placed his hand on her
shoulder. "I'm so sorry... we... we couldn't find our way back..."
----------
"She's coming around. Give her room to breathe; she needs space to
wake up."
Raven's eyes fluttered open and she winced as the bright sunlight
hit them. She groaned as things came into focus and her vision cleared.
She was in a white room surrounded by women dressed in scarlet robes,
and after a minute she recognized them from her childhood. They were the
Priestesses of the Goddesses' Mercy, and she'd often seen them in the
city.
The oldest woman who wore a hood of gold smiled down at her.
"Hello there. It's about time you woke up. My sisters and I have been
quite worried for you."
Raven slowly sat up and looked around. She saw her cloak, sword
and shield hung on hooks by the door. Her pouch and money bag were on a
desk along with a few of her scrolls. Her boots were at the foot of the
bed and her traveling clothes were clean and folded on a trunk by the
window. It reminded her of Belle and she couldn't help smile. "Thank you
Mother, for caring for Me." she said softly, hopefully right in her
assumption.
The woman smiled, "You are welcome. You were brought here by our
novice." She turned and motioned to someone behind her. "Oh come now
child, she won't hurt you."
A young woman stepped forward, and Raven caught her breath. By the
Power, she was beautiful! It must have been the same person who had held
her in the inn before she blacked out.
The girl, who must've at least been a year younger than she was,
had deep and expressive almond-shaped brown eyes. They sparkled with
some sort of intensity Raven found entrancing. She had pale skin, short
black hair and a charmingly shy smile. She was the only one in the room
who didn't wear a habit, so she hadn't taken her vows yet. She looked as
if you could pick her up and carry her off; the way she held herself
said otherwise.
"I thank you, um..." Raven suddenly found it hard to form
sentences. "Well... uh..."
"Jenna." She replied bashfully and grinned again (Raven found it
endearing). "I uh... saw you in the inn and I knew we could help you so
I brought you here." She looked as if she wanted to ask Raven what it
was that had happened to her when the Mother stepped in.
"Jenna, you have studies to do. Child we shall leave you to rest.
Some food shall be sent to you momentarily."
With that, the Mother rushed the women and Jenna out of the room
leaving Raven alone with her thoughts of the beautiful girl.
As she lay back on the soft bed, she yawned. Jenna... what a
beautiful name... I wonder how she found me...
And Raven drifted off to sleep, the nightmares banished by that
sweet smile.
---------
Within a few days Raven had regained her strength. She began
helping the sisters with their daily chores and immersing herself in
their vast library. She found that the priestesses practiced a form of
meditation that seemed to help control her Power and joined them in
their morning sessions.
Most of her time spent in the abbey however was with Jenna,
playing mancala and talking.
Jenna had been born at the abbey and left behind by her mother who
couldn't care for her. She had never been outside the walls of the old
building and delighted in the stories Raven told her of her life on the
streets in the city of Azion and her time among the elves in the treetop
city of Leranon. She also loved the stories of Raven' sisters and Raven
found herself taking comfort in being able to speak of Tek without being
sad.
Being around the other young woman was refreshing for Raven. She'd
found someone whom she could speak to on many levels and seemed to
understand her way of thinking. Not even her sisters could've done that.
And the nightmares that had plagued her for months were gone.
One day a few weeks later found the two sitting in the garden
enjoying the afternoon sun and the latest crop of pomegranates.
"So the merchant looked at Belle, Tek and me and simply said,
'those weren't my chickens to begin with.' I'd never seen Belle so
embarrassed. Tek and I couldn't stop teasing her for weeks."
Jenna smiled as Raven popped a few more pomegranate seeds in her
mouth and chewed, savoring the juice. "You three must have been very
close growing up."
Raven smirked, swallowed her mouthful and nodded, "Yeah. Papa used
to call us the golden trio. If one of us got in trouble the other two
would defend her..." suddenly she found she was unable to speak. Tears
sprang unbidden to her eyes and a few slipped down her cheeks. In her
mind she saw Tek standing on the street selling her jewelry to passerby,
alive and happy... then wrapped in a brown shroud and being lowered into
a grave.
Jenna watched her new friend for a few moments, then reached over
and placed her hand on Raven's knee. She could tell that the woman
before her was still deeply wounded and hurt intensely from the death
and she had an urge to pull Raven into her embrace and erase the pain
etched onto her beautiful face. She fought it... for now. "What happened
to Tek?"
The black-haired girl lowered her head and murmured quietly, "She
died. Three days after the beginning of my Ascension and Belle's
wedding. She... she was killed by an assassin. She saw him before I did
and she ...she died in my arms."
"Is that what set off the attack in the inn that night? Thinking
about her?" Jenna asked quietly. Raven nodded.
The novice saw Raven's hand clutch reflexively at a non-existent
sword hilt as she continued. "After Papa died and my blood-father tried
to have me killed, I promised myself I would never let anyone I loved or
cared about come to harm. But I... I couldn't save Tek. If... if I had
been standing there, I would've—"
"But then you wouldn't be here, Raven. You wouldn't be alive and
living the life you have now. Tek and Belle would be mourning you and
the Shadow would have taken over the kingdom. Am I right?" Jenna put her
hand under the other girl's chin and tipped it up until electric-blue
eyes looked into dark brown. "Raven... you have to stop blaming yourself
for Tek's death. It was something that you couldn't control or stop from
happening."
Raven said nothing but continued to look into those deep brown
eyes, searching for the peace she had been denied. Finally she slumped
back down and her shoulders began to weep.
Jenna folded her friend into her arms and held her as she cried,
murmuring soft words of reassurance and stroking the shoulder-length
black hair. Raven cried harder, letting her emotions out as she finally
let go. She cried for Tek, for Galen, for her mother, for her
blood-father, for Josephus. She cried for the people she'd lost and the
love she'd been denied. She cried for herself, knowing what she was
becoming and being afraid of it.
Jenna could feel a multitude of emotions swimming through her as
she comforted the girl she had fallen in love with at first sight. The
physicality of their embrace was not lost on her and she found herself
trying not to tremble.
By now Raven had stopped crying. She had her head on Jenna's
shoulder and was about to move when she felt a tremor run through the
other's body. She looked up and saw those gorgeous brown eyes shimmering
with emotions she never thought she'd see directed at her. For what
seemed an eternity they stared at each other, both unsure of what to do.
But neither of them expected what happened next...
Raven leaned forward and tenderly touched Jenna's lips to hers.
It took all of Jenna's self-restraint not to moan, but she still
let out a shaky exhalation of breath and closed her eyes, savoring the
feeling of Raven's mouth on her own.
When Raven pulled away Jenna's eyes shot open and she stared
quizzically at the other girl. It only lasted for a moment because Raven
got up, kneeled beside the bench, cupped her face in her hands and
kissed her again. Jenna sighed once more and wrapped her arms around the
other girl's neck pulling her close.
Raven could hardly believe what was happening, but her mind didn't
do too much thinking as she let began to move her mouth against Jenna's,
attempting to deepen the kiss.
This time Jenna didn't hold back a moan as Raven's tongue slipped
into her mouth and entwined with hers. The kiss became more passionate
as the novice tried not to slide off the bench and melt into a puddle on
the ground; Raven's arms the only things keeping her from it.
Oxygen became an apparent need and the two parted, each breathing
heavily. Electric-blue stared into deep brown as neither could think of
anything to say. Each wanted to say the three words but couldn't bring
themselves to do it (it was just their first [Jenna's first, Raven's
second] kiss after all).
Finally Raven just grinned and whispered, "Come with me."
Jenna didn't hesitate to answer her. "I will."
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